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Escritura, herramienta para enfrentar a la pandemia

Escritura, herramienta para enfrentar a la pandemia

“Tuvimos la impresión de que estábamos viviendo un momento único, complejo e inquietante”, dice Philippe Ollé-Laprune. https://www.milenio.com/cultura/escritura-herramienta-para-enfrentar-a-la-pandemia

JESÚS ALEJO SANTIAGO

Mi pandemia no fue la tuya, la de la gente muy rica no fue ni la tuya ni la mía, hasta la de los políticos fue una pandemia diferente”. Esto comentaba a MILENIO Arnoldo Kraus, a propósito de la aparición del libro Bitácora de mi pandemia, que comenzó a escribir a finales de febrero de 2020 y termina a mediados de año.

El médico volvió a hallar en la escritura una forma de alejar a los fantasmas de la pandemia por el covid-19, como lo hicieron muchos otros, no solo aquellos que tienen en la palabra una forma de expresión, sino artistas de otras manifestaciones, quienes construyeron sus propias bitácoras.

Si la escritura es una herramienta para conservar la memoria, al mismo tiempo hubo quienes buscaron darle coherencia al caos, apuesta de un proyecto impulsado desde la Unidad Cuajimalpa de la Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana, bajo el título de Bitácora del encierro, coordinado por Philippe Ollé-Laprune, como parte de la cátedra Escritura y exilio. “Tuvimos la impresión de que estábamos viviendo un momento único, al mismo tiempo complejo e inquietante, pero que podría aportar mucho en distintos campos. Vimos la reacción de muchos artistas e intelectuales en el mundo y nos dio la impresión de que sería importante confiar en la escritura”, aseguró en su momento el escritor y gestor cultural.

Un llamado al que respondieron autores como Mario Bellatín, Roberto Brodski, Emiliano Monge, Camila Fabbri, Mercedes Cebrián, Mauricio Montiel Figueiras, Laia Jufresa, Ariana Harwicz, Élmer Mendoza o Isabel Zapata, por mencionar a algunos. En esta memoria que se construye al dejar los textos para después, lo más importante es saber qué estaba pasando en la cabeza de las personas. Eso produce la escritura, asegura Philippe Ollé-Laprune.

Testimonios a manera de diario

La Revista de la Universidad también hizo un llamado a desarrollar el Diario de la pandemia, que en un primer momento apareció en una versión digital, que luego se transformó en una  antología que reúne más de 100 testimonios de los primeros 90 días de la contingencia por el covid-19.

Coordinado por Paulina del Collado Lobatón, Guadalupe Nettel y Yael Weiss, Diario de la pandemia se construye a partir de experiencias de creadores que habitan ciudades como Venecia, Seúl, Milán, Luanda, Buenos Aires o Ciudad de México. En el volumen lo mismo se encuentran las voces de Cristina Rivera Garza y Mariana Enríquez, que de Javier Cercas o Julián Herbert. Desde que se dieron los primeros visos de lo que venía para la humanidad, se empezaron a desarrollar diarios o bitácoras desde diferentes escenarios; por ejemplo, la Filmoteca de la UNAM también llevó a cabo un concurso, con el propósito de “fomentar la reflexión y la comunicación en imágenes sobre la restricción social y el libre tránsito, así como el impacto económico en los gobiernos, en los capitales y en las empresas, en el marco de la crisis sanitaria que actualmente vivimos”.

Se lanzaron en los primeros meses, quizá, porque en ciertos sectores había la creencia de que no duraría mucho tiempo. José Ramón Calvo, miembro de la Real Academia Europea de Doctores, también hizo un llamado a expertos internacionales para conocer desde cómo se produjo la epidemia de covid-19 y sus consecuencias, hasta la compleja situación que se vendría a partir de la paralización mundial. Todo ello está presente en un libro como La gran pausa: Gramática de una pandemia, que ha vuelto a circular en nuestros días, como una manera de recordar que la reflexión de hace un año no ha cambiado mucho con respecto a lo que se vive en la actualidad

Historias para reinventarse

Entre los libros más recientes se encuentra el volumen Experiencias del año cero. Lado B de la pandemia covid-19, coordinado por Mónica Martínez Silva y que cuenta con un prólogo de Alberto Barranco Chavarría. Este proyecto editorial surgió, precisamente, durante el periodo en el que la compiladora vivió el encierro por haberse contagiado. De acuerdo con Martínez Silva, se trata de “historias aleccionadoras surgidas desde el hogar, hasta el horror de vernos cara a cara con la muerte: la narración de múltiples vivencias que llevaron a sus autores y autoras a reconstruirse y a reinventarse”.

Fuente de la Información: https://www.milenio.com/cultura/escritura-herramienta-para-enfrentar-a-la-pandemia

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Maestros de Morelos en Palacio Nacional, exigen pago de adeudos y basificación

Maestros de Morelos en Palacio Nacional, exigen pago de adeudos y basificación

Varias decenas de docentes procedentes del estado de Morelos arribaron el día de hoy a la Ciudad de México, a las puertas de Palacio Nacional, exigen el pago de adeudos y la basificación. Denuncian que la falta de pagos se agudizó en medio de la pandemia. Se trata de docentes de secundaria, de todas las asignaturas.

La situación no es un caso aislado, en medio de la crisis sanitaria hemos visto casos similares, como las maestras en Guanajuato que a finales del 2020 denunciaban la falta de pagos. Igualmente denunciaron docentes de Tamaulipas y Chiapas hace un par de semanas.

En la misma situación se encuentran académicos de diversas facultades en la Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM), quienes precisamente hace una semana, se manifestaron igualmente en Palacio Nacional sin obtener alguna respuesta. Tanto en la UNAM, como en los casos de maestras de educación básica, un elemento común es la precarización, particularmente la inestabilidad laboral.

En solidaridad con las maestras y maestros de Morelos, por la mañana se hicieron presentes en el Palacio Nacional docentes de la Ciudad de México de la agrupación Nuestra Clase.

¿Para dónde va la educación?

Preocupa ver el panorama completo, pues a la falta de pagos y de basificaciones se suma un ataque generalizado a la educación pública y a los derechos de las maestras y maestros (del sector público y privado).

Los ejemplos más recientes de esto son el apresuramiento para el regreso a clases presenciales en condiciones inseguras, la imposición de las UMA en el pago de pensiones y el anunciado recorte de personal en la Secretaría de Educación Pública (SEP). Apenas tomó posesión la nueva secretaria, anunció la implementación de despidos, igual que en su pasada gestión en el municipio de Texcoco.

Lo anterior se acumula con los ataques previos, como la Reforma Educativa de la 4T que en los hechos rescata más del 90 % de la peñista, contra la que el magisterio luchó por años, costándole presos, la matanza de Nochixtlán e incluso atracos sexuales de la policía contra las maestras.

La bancarrota de al menos 11 universidades públicas, la nueva Ley de Educación Superiorel asfixiante recorte a las normalesel recorte a la educación en rubros como infraestructura, la constante precarización de docentes y trabajadores (manuales y administrativos) en educación media superior y superior o el despido masivo de maestras y maestros de inglés del PRONI, son palpables ejemplos de los duros golpes que enfrenta la educación pública y gratuita, a los que se suman las rebajas salariales y los despidos en escuelas privadas.

¿Cómo enfrentar los ataques contra la educación?

Es necesario tener claro que la falta de pagos en Morelos no es un hecho aislado, sino parte de una política educativa de la actual administración, una profundización del ataque contra la educación pública y gratuita.

Por esto, es una necesidad urgente que los trabajadores de la educación en sus distintos niveles y sectores empecemos a forjar la más amplia unidad, concentrando una mayor fuerza que se disponga a enfrentar dichos ataques, al mismo tiempo que nos articulamos con otros sectores en lucha, como las y los trabajadores en huelga de Notimex.

Como la propia historia del movimiento magisterial ha dado muestra, sólo podemos confiar en nuestras propias fuerzas, en la fuerza del gremio que echa a andar desde el preescolar más aislado en la sierra oaxaqueña, hasta las grandes universidades metropolitanas como la UNAM.

Sólo nuestra fuerza, sumada a la de estudiantes, las madres y los padres de familia, podrá proteger y verdaderamente dignificar la educación pública y gratuita para nuestros hijos y las futuras generaciones.

Fuente de la Información: http://www.laizquierdadiario.mx/Maestros-de-Morelos-en-Palacio-Nacional-exigen-pago-de-adeudos-y-basificacion

 

 

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CDC changes school guidance, allowing desks to be closer

CDC changes school guidance, allowing desks to be closer

The revised COVID-19 recommendations represent a turn away from the 6-foot standard that has forced some schools to remove desks, stagger scheduling and take other steps to keep children away from one another.

NEW YORK — Students can safely sit just 3 feet apart in the classroom as long as they wear masks but should be kept the usual 6 feet away from one another at sporting events, assemblies, lunch or chorus practice, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Friday in relaxing its COVID-19 guidelines.

The revised recommendations represent a turn away from the 6-foot standard that has sharply limited how many students some schools can accommodate. Some places have had to remove desks, stagger schedules and take other steps to keep children apart.

Three feet «gives school districts greater flexibility to have more students in for a prolonged period of time,» said Kevin Quinn, director of maintenance and facilities at Mundelein High School in suburban Chicago.

In recent months, schools in some states have been disregarding the CDC guidelines, using 3 feet as their standard. Studies of what happened in some of them helped sway the agency, said Greta Massetti, who leads the CDC’s community interventions task force.

«We don’t really have the evidence that 6 feet is required in order to maintain low spread,» she said. Also, younger children are less likely to get seriously ill from the coronavirus and don’t seem to spread it as much as adults do, and «that allows us that confidence that that 3 feet of physical distance is safe.»

CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky said the revised recommendations are a «roadmap to help schools reopen safely, and remain open, for in-person instruction.» She said in-person schooling gives students not only «the education they need to succeed» but access to crucial social and mental health services.

The new guidance:

— Removes recommendations for plastic shields or other barriers between desks. «We don’t have a lot of evidence of their effectiveness» in preventing transmission, Massetti said.

— Advises at least 3 feet of space between desks in elementary schools, even in towns and cities where community spread is high, so long as students and teachers wear masks and take other precautions.

— Says spacing can also be 3 feet in middle and high schools, so long as there is not a high level of spread in the community. If there is, the distance should be at least 6 feet.

The CDC said 6 feet should still be maintained in common areas, such as school lobbies, and when masks can’t be worn, such as when eating.

Also, students should be kept 6 feet apart in situations where there are a lot of people talking, cheering or singing, all of which can expel droplets containing the coronavirus. That includes chorus practice, assemblies and sports events.

Teachers and other adults should continue to stay 6 feet from one another and from students, the CDC said.

The CDC’s 6-foot advice for schools, issued last year, was the same standard applied to workplaces and other settings. In contrast, the World Health Organization suggested 1 meter — a little over 3 feet — was sufficient in schools. The American Academy of Pediatrics says desks should be 3 feet apart and «ideally» 6 feet.

The CDC guidance was problematic for many schools that traditionally had 25, 30 or more children per classroom in closely grouped desks. Some schools adopted complicated schedules. For example, half a class might come to school on some days, and the other half on other days.

Some schools stopped using lockers and staggered when different grades could move between classes to avoid crowding in the halls, where maintaining any distance at all can be difficult.

The Ridley school system in suburban Philadelphia took steps like that to abide by the 6-foot guideline. But neighboring communities went with 3 feet, «and we’re not seeing the data really reflect a different spread rate,» said Lee Ann Wentzel, district superintendent.

Even before the CDC acted, the district had decided to shift to 3-foot distancing next month. Wentzel said the change in CDC guidance will make it easier to explain and defend the decision.

A recent study in Massachusetts looked at students and staff members in schools that used the 3-foot standard and those that had the 6-foot one. It found no significant difference in infection rates.

Massetti said other research has also been influential, including two studies the CDC released Friday. One out of Utah found low coronavirus transmission rates among students who did a good job wearing masks and whose desks were only 3 feet apart. The other study, done in Missouri, pointed to a similar conclusion.

Still, the change at the CDC met with skepticism in some quarters.

Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers, said the 1.6-million-member union is reviewing the latest research, «but we are concerned this change has been driven by a lack of physical space rather than the hard science on aerosol exposure and transmission.»

Dr. Lawrence Kleinman, a professor of pediatrics and global urban public health at Rutgers University in New Jersey, said 3 feet is «probably safe» if schools are doing everything right — if everyone is wearing masks correctly at all times and washing their hands, and if ventilation is good. But he said that’s unlikely.

«I will not send my child to a school that’s distancing at 3 feet,» said Kleinman, who has a 4-year-old daughter.

___

The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Department of Science Education. The AP is solely responsible for all content.

 

Fuente de la Información: https://www.startribune.com/cdc-changes-school-guidance-allowing-desks-to-be-closer/600036203/

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Education Department to fully forgive federal loans of defrauded students

Education Department to fully forgive federal loans of defrauded students

The Education Department announced this week it would fully forgive the federal loans of borrowers who enrolled in schools that «engaged in certain misconduct.»

Under the Trump administration, some students only were only given partial relief, the department said. The Education Department estimates the new formula could help approximately 72,000 borrowers receive $1 billion.

«Borrowers deserve a simplified and fair path to relief when they have been harmed by their institution’s misconduct,» said the new Secretary of Education, Miguel Cardona, in a statement. «A close review of these claims and the associated evidence showed these borrowers have been harmed and we will grant them a fresh start from their debt.»

In 2019, then-Education Secretary Betsy DeVos faced intense scrutiny over her handling of the issue when she appeared before the House Education and Labor committee. The Education Department says it will now ensure borrowers with approved claims «have a streamlined path to receiving full loan discharges,» including individuals who previously received «less than a full loan discharge.»

PHOTO: The U.S. Department of Education stands in Washington, D.C., February 21, 2021.

«The department added that it will also be «pursuing additional actions, including re-regulation, in the future.»

Democrats, including House Education and Labor Committee Chair Bobby Scott of Virginia, applauded the move.

«For more than four years, defrauded borrowers and their families have lived under a cloud of education debt that they should not have to repay,» he said in a statement. «I applaud the Biden Administration for doing the right thing by making these borrowers whole, and I can only imagine the mixture of joy and relief they are feeling today. This announcement is lifechanging for tens of thousands of people across the country.»

Fuente de la Información: https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/education-department-fully-forgive-federal-loans-defrauded-students/story?id=76579060&cid=clicksource_4380645_14_comic_strip_sq_hed

 

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State Board of Community Colleges | Budget requests, Roanoke-Chowan president approved, and more

State Board of Community Colleges | Budget requests, Roanoke-Chowan president approved, and more

The State Board of Community Colleges met March 19th to discuss progress on the community college system’s legislative priorities, personnel changes, and budget accommodations around “the COVID year.”

Roanoke-Chowan presidential search

The Board announced the hiring of Dr. Murray Jean Williams as president of Roanoke-Chowan Community College. Dr. Williams was previously the vice president of adult education and academic support for Southern Crescent Technical College in Griffin, Georgia.

The board of trustees at Roanoke-Chowan Community College sent the names of two finalists to the Board’s Personnel committee, which decided on Dr. Williams. The recommendation was approved unanimously by the full Board.

“COVID year” FTE exception

The Board approved a 2021 Budget Provision Request that included two action items. One of the system’s top legislative priorities is a request for $61 million in non-recurring funding to help stabilize colleges’ budgets due to pandemic-related enrollment losses this year. The system is now requesting that these budget stabilization funds, if appropriated by the legislature, remain available through June 2023.

“This is very in line with what was done with the hurricane funds for the disaster funds there to provide a little more flexibility to the fact that the pandemic uncertainty is still kind of out there,” said Alex Fagg, director of government relations for the system office.

Second, the system requests that the 2020-21 academic year — referred to by Board members as “the COVID year”  — be excluded from the two-year budget calculation for colleges who experienced enrollment decline.

“The second one is to essentially skip the COVID year, if there was a decline at the college enrollment, or a college FTE, for the two-year calculation so that college would use the 19-20 and 21-22 to develop that two-year FTE calculation,” she said.

State funding is allocated to community colleges based on their enrollment the previous two years. During a recession, community college enrollment typically increases. But due to the uneven impact of COVID-19 and the nature of online courses, nearly all of North Carolina’s community colleges have experienced enrollment declines this year. Systemwide, community colleges experienced an 11% enrollment decline in fall 2020 compared to fall 2019.

Exempt employee status

The Board approved a motion to designate some system office staff as “exempt” employees.

“One category is what we call SBA, which is subject to the State Human Resources Act. The other category is EPA, which stands for exempt from the Personnel Act,” said Jonathan Harris, chief of staff for the system office. “The exempt folks in the system office, they are nominated by the president to the State Board, and the State Board ultimately approves the hiring of EPA staff. SBA are not brought before the Board, and they are hired here internally at the system office.”

Employees falling under exempt status are “at-will” employees and serve at the pleasure of the system president. This change affects positions in the system’s communications office, switching their status from SBA to exempt.

“The reason for that is the system president and I believe that our communications folks are the representatives of the system office and the community college system,” Harris said. “We are putting out either press releases statements, social media marketing, branding type materials, and we feel if there is a change in direction that’s needed in our communications area, that would allow us to make that change relatively quickly.”

Presidents’ Association report

Dr. Kandi Deitemeyer, president of Central Piedmont Community College, gave a report on behalf of the Presidents’ Association outlining the need for in-person learning as they plan for summer and fall terms.

“Many of our students need to be on campus,” she said. “They need to be in areas where they’re supported outside of the classroom. They need to be engaged in those supportive learning environments. And also, many of them need that sense of community, and that’s what your local community college does.”

Deitemeyer said they are considering a need for programs to address learning loss due to the nature of courses during the pandemic.

“We do anticipate we will see our students return, but we anticipate many adult learners and others who will need to rescale, retrain, or maybe who have just decided after this year, working at home or perhaps not working, that they need a new career,” she said. “They need to re-advantage themselves, and their local community college, as you know, will be the place for them to land.”

The Board will next meet on April 15 and 16. Subscribe to Awake58 for more State Board of Community Colleges coverage.

Fuente de la Información: https://www.ednc.org/03-19-2021-state-board-of-community-colleges-meeting/

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Advancing Diversity, Equity and Inclusion

Advancing Diversity, Equity and Inclusion

 

The NC State College of Education’s land-grant vision is to lead the way in increasing educational opportunities for all and reducing achievement gaps. To fulfill this vision, we must confront racial injustices and build a more diverse, inclusive and supportive community — both within our college and in the field of education. In summer 2020, we created a change agent group to identify additional strategies and actions we, as a college, will take to intensify our efforts in these areas.

College of Education Change Agent Task Force

The Change Agent Task Force is made up of faculty, staff and students within the college who serve as liaisons, experts in diversity, equity, and inclusion, and advisors whose work encourages and empowers the college community and the next generation of teachers and scholar-leaders to teach and lead in ways that disrupt structural inequities, value diversity and promote systemic change.

«Our mission as a college compels us to be assertive on all fronts to defeat racial ignorance, hatred and oppression. Fulfilling that mission will require
all of us, particularly those of us who are white,
to own that racism is not a problem
that Black people can fix.»

– Mary Ann Danowitz, D.Ed.
Dean of the College of Education

Fuente de la Información: https://ced.ncsu.edu/advancing-dei/

 

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